Central Africa is laying a shared foundation for its data. On 19 and 20 October, Brazzaville hosted the regional workshop tasked with validating the data governance framework of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS). The text is meant to give the eleven member states a common reference for securing cross-border data flows and supporting the growth of the digital economy across the subregion.
The Brazzaville meeting builds on work that began a few weeks earlier. Discussions opened in Douala, Cameroon, from 31 August to 4 September, with technical and financial backing from AUDA-NEPAD, the UN Economic Commission for Africa, the African Union Commission and German development cooperation.
The assessment delivered at the opening was blunt. Guichard Tsangou, ECCAS director of Posts, Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, pointed to fragmented systems, weak cross-border interoperability and governance frameworks that remain largely national. In his view, Douala had provided the momentum and set the method, and Brazzaville was the place to reach consensus.
Expectations go beyond the technical. Over time, the framework should support growth and social progress in the region while helping an integrated regional digital market take shape. The validated document will now go to ECCAS decision-making bodies for the next stage of adoption. How much it achieves will then depend on how far member states take ownership of it, the resources committed and the actual implementation of the mechanisms it sets out.
Further west, Nigeria is moving ahead on another pillar of the digital economy, infrastructure. On 14 October in Abuja, the federal government, the European Union and the EBRD signed a grant agreement worth up to €14 million to prepare the rollout of 90,000 km of fibre-optic cable. The money will go to feasibility studies, network design, project preparation and capacity building.
The deal is part of the BRIDGE project, launched in August 2025, which aims to expand the country’s fibre network from around 35,000 to 125,000 km and connect all 774 local government areas. The €14 million covers only the preparatory phase, however, with financing and construction of the full network handled under separate commitments.